U Spy: Kia's New Quoris Flagship Basking Under the Californian Sun

For some unexplained reason, Kia won't give us a definitive answer on when it's spanking new, rear-wheel drive Quoris flagship sedan will go on sale in North America, with officials simply stating that the car is currently being "evaluated" for the United States.

Given this fresh sighting of a Quoris (marketed as the K9 in South Korea) wearing nothing but its tuxedo black paint job in California by Carscoops reader Tom H., we'd say the frustratingly long evaluation process continues.

"Saw the car in Newport Beach California outside of a sushi restaurant," Tom told us in an email. "It had distributor plates on it and had no markings identifying it as the K9 - just the Kia badge."

From the few details Kia has released about the export market Quoris, we know that it will be offered with a 286hp (290PS) Lambda V6 3.8-litre MPI and a 329HP (333PS) 3.8-liter GDI engine, but it’s almost a given that the North American model will also get a V8 option, just like its Hyundai Genesis sibling.